This invention relates to covers for window casings, and more particularly to window casing covers for use in conjunction with metal siding or the like on exterior walls of buildings.
In conventional housing construction, window openings in a wall are provided with casings, which are typically wooden trim or molding elements protruding to some extent from the exterior facing of the wall. The configurations and dimensions of these casings vary widely. When metal or plastic siding or the like is used to refurbish a building wall, i.e. replacing or applied over existing clapboards, shingles or other facing material, it is preferable not to leave the existing window casings exposed, because the need for relatively frequent painting or other care of such casings prevents full realization of the benefit of the newly installed siding material in reducing exterior building maintenance. Moreover, the existing window casings are often aesthetically incompatible with such siding materials; for example, the added thickness of metal siding installed over another (e.g. shingle or clapboard) facing may so alter the visual relationship of the casings to the wall surface as to produce an incongruous appearance. Sometimes window casings are "jumped" by extending the siding panels over them, thereby to avoid the aforementioned maintenance problems, but this is not always feasible or convenient (especially where strongly protruding casings are encountered), and the resultant concealment of the casings detracts from the appearance of the siding-clad wall, which is generally intended to resemble a traditional house wall with frame windows as closely as possible.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a metal or like trim system, usable with metal or other siding to cover existing window casings (or, in new construction, as a substitute for conventional window casings), that would simulate conventional window casings in appearance while affording the same durability and freedom from maintenance as the siding panels themselves.
It would be particularly desirable to provide such a trim system capable of installation by relatively untrained personnel without special and complex equipment, or even capable of "do-it-yourself" installation by homeowners. This installation, desirably, should be usable either in conjunction with installation of siding panels or as an improvement for previously applied siding, e.g. to improve the appearance of walls having jumped casings.
Heretofore, however, the wide diversity of window sizes, casing shapes and dimensions, and other conditions encountered where metal or like siding is used has presented substantial problems in that such trim systems (if employed at all) have had to be more or less specially tailored or custom-fit for each specific situation; and their installation has been relatively difficult, requiring highly skilled installers. Proper alignment of trim components has presented particular difficulty, most especially when the subjacent casing or other support surface is warped, sloping, irregular, or not square.